This case serves as a poignant illustration of the profound impact misinformation can have, jeopardizing both one's career and life. It is imperative to acknowledge the gravity of this phenomenon. Delving into the dissemination of such news, while considering the cultural, political, and social nuances of a country or region, unveils the intriguing role geographical aspects play in shaping information. For instance, in nations where high beauty standards hold significance, such topics may garner heightened attention. Conversely, in less preoccupied societies, such memes or news may not elicit the same level of interest.

"Model's Life Crumbles Amidst Fake News Frenzy"

Let's start with a sad story that truly encapsulates the essence of this phenomenon. In various countries around the world, a meme has gone viral—'Plastic Surgery: You Can't Hide It Forever.' It's accompanied by sensational news stories about a husband suing his wife for allegedly concealing her plastic surgeries before marriage and how it purportedly affected their children. This narrative seemed like truth for a considerable time until rebuttals emerged. Let's explore how the phenomenon of fake news shapes our perception of the world.

In summery, taiwanese model Heidi Yeh's life and career were negatively impacted when an advertising photo shoot she participated in for a plastic surgery clinic turned into Internet memes years later. The manipulated ad featured Yeh with a model family, and false news stories about the image, where the faces of the children in the photo were distorted, spread without fact-checking, leading to significant damage to Yeh's reputation and potential earnings.

The brief BBC segment presented above narrates how Yeh's photograph evolved into a widely circulated internet meme, eventually turning into a story that went out of control.

Fabricating Reality: Diving into the World of this Phenomenon

Fake News, widely recognized as false information, is a phenomenon many of us have likely encountered. It is deceptive or distorted information designed to mislead readers. In the age of digital technologies and social media, fake news has become a prevalent issue, infiltrating our everyday information flow. These fabricated events, false claims, or manipulated facts can influence public opinion and impact decision-making.

📒 Related Materials

Compton_2022_FakeNews.pdf

Read the Article "Fake News" by James Compton

Read or listen "Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024"

fake news.pptx

Check out the Presentation of Student Experts

🎧 Listen the Radio and learn more about the Origins of Fake News

The Origin of Fake News

The term "fake news" became widely known after the 2016 US presidential election, but its roots go back hundreds of years. In the early 19th century, techniques for spreading false information improved, leading to a transparent strategy for increasing newspaper circulation. An example is the publication in the New York Sun in 1835 of fantastic discoveries of life on the moon, which successfully deceived readers and showed the influence of sensationalist stories on public opinion. The phenomenon of "fake news" is not a new exception, and its history is rooted in the distant past, all the way back to the First World War.

With the advent of digital technology, disinformation has now become even more widespread. The development of digital platforms, combined with an economic strategy of accelerated information production and sharing, has created an environment where false information can spread rapidly, making fake news an influential force in today's society.

This incident underscores concerns about AI spreading misinformation and propaganda, as seen in Turkey's election. The rise of AI-generated content prompts calls for government regulation. Deepfake specialists highlight the vulnerability of famous individuals to AI manipulation, particularly in videos where they speak directly to the camera (Hurst, L. 2023).

AI and Publicity

Here one can see an example of what fake news can look like. That example shows that AI-generated images are weaponized in the US Republican presidential race, targeting Donald Trump. Ron Desantis's campaign released a video criticizing Trump for not firing Dr. Anthony Fauci, featuring fake images of them together. The video, starting with Trump's "You're fired" catchphrase from "The Apprentice," includes AI-generated images without disclosure.

How AI shaped Milei's path to Argentina presidency | ContextUse of AI in campaigning is raising fears about the possible implications for 2024 elections in nations including the US and India

"Campaigners used AI to deliver deceptive messages to voters, and this is a risk for any election process"

Darrell West, Center for Technology Innovation at the Washington-based Brookings Institution

"Despite organized pushback from union activist, the "conversion of news companies into 'financial instruments' by 'outside money men,' according to Doctor, had stripped them 'of civic responsibility'." (Compton, 2022)

There are several reasons that paved the way of the journalism legitimization crisis we face today. Between these aspects, James Compton (2022), notes the increase of labor precarity in the newsrooms around the world, alongside the recent economic crisis as well as the digitalization of media. These factors converge on a landscape where the main entrepreneurs in the media sector prioritize profits from their mediums instead of the transparency and quality of the service, which is a key factor for increasing the dissemination of misinformation through algorithms and advertisement.

Taylor Swift deepfakes spark calls in Congress for new legislationExplicit images of the popstar were spread millions of times on social media before being removed.

Regulation of AI and media platforms

The spread of fake news content is already a social problem, affecting individuals and even the democratic system. This requires integrated actions at a socio-political level.

This way, it is important to discuss legal issues about AI and social media regulation, which also needs to be constantly updated to effectively deal with the problem as technologies evolve.

In January 2024, the american singer Taylor Swift was the target of viral explicit deepfake images on X (former Twitter). The majority of the images were removed after a couple more than 24h online, but it is estimated that one of the pictures was seen 47 million times before being removed. Users expressed their fears in tweets: "If this can happen to one of the most famous and powerful people in the world, what could happen to someone common?". The event led to calls in the US Congress for new legal regulations towards artificial intelligence.

Change in communication

The proliferation of fake news is a result of the emergence of a new communication space in which traditional mass media networks are integrated with user-generated promotional commodity circulation. Communication has changed and there are different types of mass communication appearing which are unlike face-to-face communication (Compton, J. 2021).

Attention to fake news

The high attention for fake news changes with the rise of the usage of media all over. Important to notice is that the rise of fake news is linked to a broader legitimation crisis in Western governments and institutions following the 2008 financial collapse. The crisis of political legitimacy is rooted in the crisis of global financial capitalism and related crises of democratic representation and identity (Compton, J. 2021).

Clickbaiting & Algorythm

Low barriers to spreading rumors, fake news and conspiracies in social media make it easy for profit-oriented bloggers or politically motivated people to gain broader audience. The use of algorithms and clickbaiting increases the chance of having your contributions displayed to a wider audience. Journalistic credibility and trust are difficult but essential for a functional society (Compton, J. 2021).

Eifel tower on fire

Another impressive example is the spread of an AI-generated Video, in which the Eifel Tower is shown as if it is on fire. The Video was spreading fast and millions of people believed it was true. This example shows how easy it is nowadays to distribute fake news on social media. At the same time, one can see how difficult it is to distinguish what is real and what is not.

A way through the divide

When thinking of alternatives to the misinformation crisis, we must consider the digital divide that perpasses this problem. Aspects like age, geographic location and cultural features can be spotted as some of the basis of this partition and should also be considered as key points into the solution.

Bridging The Digital Divide In The AI Era - The UNDP Way

What to do?

The Question arises what is appropriate to prevent the absorption of fake news? Very important is the facilitation of media literacy. People who absorb news need to distinguish between confiding sources and reliable journalism. Therefore it is fundamental to teach media literacy and add this issue to syllabi at Schools and Universities, for young people and adults (Kracht, O. 2022).

Critical thinking into journalism and news: is there really a neutrality?

Task: One way to observe journalism critically is to pay attention to the different aspects of the same fact being noticed by different newspaper and media. Watch the videos below, about the Argentinian election-winner, Javier Milei, and try to think of the following aspects:

Do you notice a different tone, depending on the broadcaster? If so, how is it perceived?
Do the news focus on different aspects of the same fact?
Do you think these differences are influenced by the political spectre of each broadcaster?

After this simple exercise, the idea is to try to analize the news with critical eyes. What messages are implicit in this media? Is there a bias? If so, what would it be?

Being able to pay attention to these questions is one of the first steps to critically analize different media and, consequently, combat the fake news problem.

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